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This paper demonstrates that OH radicals are formed by photolysis of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) material formed by terpene ozonolysis. The SOA is collected on filters, dissolved in water containing a radical trap (benzoic acid), and then exposed to ultraviolet light in a photochemical reactor. The OH formation rates, which are similar for both α-pinene and limonene SOA, are measured from the formation rate of p-hydroxybenzoic acid as measured using offline HPLC analysis. To evaluate whether the OH is formed by photolysis of H2O2 or organic hydroperoxides (ROOH), the peroxide content of the SOA was measured using the horseradish peroxidase-dichlorofluorescein (HRP-DCF) assay, which was calibrated using H2O2. The OH formation rates from SOA are 5 times faster than from the photolysis of H2O2 solutions whose concentrations correspond to the peroxide content of the SOA solutions, assuming that the HRP-DCF signal arises from H2O2 alone. The higher rates of OH formation from SOA are likely due to ROOH photolysis, but we cannot rule out a contribution from secondary processes as well. This result is substantiated by photolysis experiments conducted with t-butyl hydroperoxide and cumene hydroperoxide which produce over 3 times more OH than photolysis of equivalent concentrations of H2O2. Relative to the peroxide level in the SOA and assuming that the peroxides drive most of the ultraviolet absorption, the quantum yield for OH generation from α-pinene SOA is 0.8 ± 0.4. This is the first demonstration of an efficient photolytic source of OH in SOA, one that may affect both cloud water and aerosol chemistry.

As one aspect of the NETwork on Climate and Aerosols: addressing key uncertainties in Remote Canadian Environments (NETCARE), measurements of the cloud condensation nucleation properties of 50 and 100 nm aerosol particles were conducted at Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island in August 2013. The overall hygroscopicity parameter of the aerosol (κambient) exhibited a wide variation, ranging from 0.14 ± 0.05 to 1.08 ± 0.40 (where the uncertainty represents the systematic error). The highest κ values arose when the organic-to-sulfate ratio of the aerosol was lowest and when winds arrived from the west after transport through the marine boundary layer. The average κambient during this time was 0.57 ± 0.16, where the uncertainty represents the standard deviation. At most other times, the air was predominantly influenced by both marine and continental emissions, which had lower average PM1 κambient values (max value, 0.41 ± 0.08). The two-day average aerosol ionic composition also showed variation, but was consistently acidic and dominated by ammonium (18–56% by mole) and sulfate (19–41% by mole), with only minor levels of sodium or chloride. Average κorg (hygroscopicity parameter for the aerosol's organic component) values were estimated using PM1 aerosol composition data and by assuming that the ratio of aerosol organic to sulfate mass is related directly to the composition of the size-selected particles.